Fika: a moment to slow down and appreciate the good things in life

Go get it. One thing I've learned from writing is that inspiration does not happen upon you when you're desperately looking for it. It's like that great relationship advice we all get. Just stop looking and love will find you. Once you are enjoying life, pop, that person will just appear. Not at all helpful in the moment. Staring at a blank page is nothing but intimidating, at least for me. My muse abandons me as soon as I get stuck in a spiral asking for inspiration to strike. So I've developed a few tricks to get it back. 1. I'm a sucker for a good notebook. If I feel inspired just by picking it up, you can bet I'm going to enjoy writing in it and find that ideas come easier. There is a specific line by Compendium that I absolutely adore. These notebooks are lined and interspersed throughout are pages of quotes and beautiful pictures. They always make me smile. 2. Good books. There are a few authors whose books I could (and do) read over and over. Any...

Recently, I read a blog where the author talked about choosing a single word to represent a goal for the coming year. She talked about choosing a word that scared her. This struck me as an interesting way to encourage change and intentionality throughout the new year, without setting strict boundaries about what counts and what doesn't (like setting New Year's resolutions). It leaves you more free to take new opportunities that life offers. So I began thinking of my own word for the year. While I didn't want to choose a word that terrified me, I did want the word to represent growth. And for me, growth has been linked with getting out of my comfort zone. It is a little scary. I was reminded of a time in Bellingham when the church I attended went through a series that they titled Rooted . It was about rooting yourself in the Bible, and your faith. As I considered where I am and what could be in store for this year, it became clear that I wanted permanency in my life. Dur...

Life moves whether you do or not. In life, everything we do is a choice, even choosing to not choose is a choice. When I was driving to work, I passed an intersection with the arrows painted on the road and thought what an interested parallel could be drawn between this and life. Because even if we want to continue straight, without any changes, that is still a choice. We can't just turn on autopilot, we constantly have to re-evaluate our path and make turns to continue in the direction we want to go - or sometimes make turns to avoid certain things we know we don't want. I came out of a coffee shop and saw this sign and knew this is the representation I'd been looking for. Even when we don't want change, we still have to make choices. We never have the option to continue straight without interference, although it would be nice at times to just put on cruise control and not worry about it. But life is engaging and requires active involvement. This doesn't me...

...even if that means exploring your own backyard.  My sophomore year of college I didn't want to go back, I wanted to transfer. Not because I disliked the school or the people, only because I felt I'd gotten to know all the corners of Bellingham and was too comfortable. I wanted to relive that feeling of everything being new, of finding your favorite coffee shop by trying them all. But I didn't leave. Instead, I made sure to keep trying new places. It was nice to have a favorite spot, but those places became my fall back. My favorite Sunday mornings consisted of taking a drive and getting lost. I loved that there were still unexplored areas, I just had to look harder for them. It's so easy to become comfortable with a place and decide we know all we need to about it. There's a beauty in having a favorite spot. But cities are always changing, there's always more to see.

Instead of watching 2015 end (which we still did, unintentionally) we woke up early to see the start of 2016, with a beautiful view and coffee in hand. It's so interesting that this happens everyday, and yet we pick one day and mark it as more significant.  Today at 8:04am we didn't only begin a new day, but an entire new year. I'm really looking forward to 2016. Up until recently, life - at least for me - has been measured by school. We spend our lives focused on the future, on goals that someday we will reach. Achieving good grades in high school recommends you to a good college so that you can get a degree and enter the job field you're interested in. But we haven't been coached in what to do once we reach our goals. Since graduating college, it's been difficult to slow down. While I will always have goals, my current goal is to become comfortable living in the moment. I can't believe I'm finally reaching my goals I've had for years,...

I love that there is such a variety of coloring books for adults. I was working in a bookstore when the Secret Garden came out and and we could barely keep it on the shelves. Everyone was interested in a fun, creative way to unwind at the end of a long day. Or, just looking for a fun hobby to pick up. What caught me off guard were the few people who came in asking for the special pens and pencils associated with the coloring book line. No, that's not the part that surprised me. These people would be offended that we didn't stock the accessories for the book. Regular pens and pencils wouldn't work, they were on a hunt. Suddenly, it wasn't enough to relax and color, they were undertaking this as a serious project. To each their own. When you tell someone, don't take it too seriously, first consider what you're truly asking of them. Just because a majority may see something one way - like coloring as a relaxation tool - doesn't mean that everyone should....